


The Long Way Around

by MidnightNereid



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Action/Adventure, CROSSOVER!!!, Gen, very very very mild romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-10 10:37:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4388579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightNereid/pseuds/MidnightNereid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Yuugi's crew, Dartz's nightmare had just ended. For Juudai's, he had shadowy visions to follow. For Yuusei, the programming was not going to just write itself and there was Aki to contend with.</p><p>Too bad the bastard who sent these teleporting postcards didn't give a damn about how they wanted to live their lives. It isn't Paradox and Z-One is not the threat...but who is it that has sent them here, into this world where cards do not exist but the monsters are so very real?</p><p>[Fusion between what Bonds Beyond Time was trying to achieve and Capsule Monsters, two of my favorite segments of the series if on their potential only. Action/Adventure Gen fic, hoping to update weekly.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> I would really appreciate comments if you have the time to spare for me! But above all else, please enjoy. <3

The air was so hot here that it scorched Yuugi's lungs when he inhaled and he coughed on it, which was the entirely wrong reaction because then his eyes started to water. The phantom in front of him - shapeless, vaguely resembling a dragon and most definitely the stuff of nightmare - made that low, womanly murmuring sound and advanced.  
  
Yuugi backed away. The heat at his back got worse and stone crumbled under his foot, prompting him to risk a glance over his shoulder, at the lava-filled chasm below. He hastily looked away, back at the monstrosity before him, and swallowed.  
  
"Well, so much for a vacation," said the young man next to him in a forced cheerful tone, aquamarine-and-orange eyes ablaze.  
  
.  
  
 _A Week Earlier._  
  
 _Domino City_  
  
.  
  
"Grrrr! Why is it so cold? It's supposed to be summer!"  
  
Jounouchi's words were barely audible behind the voluminously ugly purple scarf wrapped three times around his neck, the woolen fluff thick enough to entirely cover the lower half of his face. That was fine; his friends did not need to hear him in order to commiserate. Anzu's short school skirt had been exchanged for a heavy knees-length pleated skirt to keep out as much of the cold as possible, assisted by leggings, boots and a cream pea coat. Honda was no better, his trench coat sporting fur around the hood and his black turtleneck dragged up to conceal his lower face like Jounouchi had hidden his. Yuugi hoped they were warm, because his current attire of duffle coat, scarf and earmuffs over a sweater and a long-sleeved shirt still left him shivering with every gust of wind that raced towards them.  
  
"Hopefully it'll clear up soon," Anzu said, her voice miserable. Maybe not, then. "They said the weather had been going crazy everyday ever since Dartz."  
  
"Sounds about right," Honda grumbled. He glanced at the dark, cloudy, unfriendly sky above their heads with a grimace. "Seriously, at this rate it'll be awful all the way to actual winter."  
  
"Where it'll get worse, knowing our luck," Jounouchi grouched, and shivered again at the next wind blow. "Yuugi! I dunno if this is rude or not but can't the other you do some magic tricks to make it stop?"  
  
"I don't think that's how the Millennium Puzzle works, Jou," Yuugi called back, his voice nearly lost to the gales. He hunched over and wished he had worn maybe two sweaters instead of one when leaving the house today. It was not snowing, and in truth was not as cold as winter, but the fierce winds made it infinitely worse. ...Can you, though? he asked the presence in the back of his mind.  
  
'Unfortunately, partner, you were right.' There was the sensation of a smirk, rueful as it was. 'My powers do not go to such extents.'  
  
 _Oh, that's okay. I thought it was worth asking._ Yuugi led his friends around the last corner and was grateful to see his grandfather's game shop just down the street. He gestured them to go faster, then turned to the spirit hovering next to him. _But do you think this has anything to do with the Orichalcos thing?_  
  
His other self was silent for a long moment, and Yuugi thought he could see a shadow of trepidation and weariness on the face that was so like his own - but infinitely older, somehow, especially in this moment. 'I do not know,' the Pharaoh said slowly, and sounded like he was tired of the phrase. 'Perhaps it does and perhaps it does not. I do not think we can ask them, even if it is.'  
  
Yuugi slowed as they approached the door to his house, taking the time his friends took to catch up in order to bump his shoulder against the Pharaoh's arm. It was incorporeal, or should be, but he felt the warmth and the solidness as surely as one would a real human being. That was a...new thing, cropping up recently, and Yuugi did not particularly object to it. "Don't worry," he said. "It's probably just freak weather, for real. Not every bad storm is the herald to the next apocalypse, right?"  
  
The Pharaoh only had time to smile before Jounouchi caught up and said, "Yeah, I sure hope so. Don't think I'm recharged enough for the next one. And it'd be nice if there's a signup sheet for it so we can _not_ put our names down."  
  
The shop was empty, not unexpectedly, since Yuugi's grandfather had somehow had the luck to dodge the awful weather with a timely trip to America to visit Professor Hopkins - chatting up about old times, he had said, with that cheeky grin that told Yuugi he was being one hundred percent dishonest - but there was a whole host of little envelopes spilling from their indoors mailbox. Most of them were either advertisements or duel challenges issued from a variety of people, so Yuugi sighed and dumped them all in the drawer he had set aside specifically for them. Throwing them away made him feel guilty, but answering every single one was worse.  
  
Jounouchi peeked over his shoulder while he was scanning one reeking with perfume, then wrapped an arm around Yuugi's neck and gave him a noogie. "Jerk! You got love letters!"  
  
Anzu perked up where she had been trying to make coffee. There was something dangerous in her voice. "Love letters?!"  
  
"Let - ack -me go, Jou! It's not a love letter!" Yuugi wheezed, then breathed gratefully when Anzu's heel landing in the back of Jounouchi's knee forced him away with a yelp. He rubbed the back of his neck, winced, and picked up the postcard. "It's...it's a duel invitation. It's probably from a woman, 's all."  
  
"Who can know for sure? Maybe she'll whisk you off on an expensive date once she gets an answer," Honda grinned and snatched it out of his grip, sniffing at the stationery. "Ooooh, expensive! My French aunt got this in her collection."  
  
"You don't even have a French aunt," Anzu said snippily, stealing it from him. She held it out of Yuugi's reach when he tried to steal it back and looked at the scenery on the postcard - and frowned. "...This isn't Paris."  
  
"Yeah. Too popular. Maybe she wants to go somewhere more discreet for a date," Jounouchi said, peeking over her shoulder. Honda joined him at her other one.  
  
"Guys!" Yuugi exclaimed in exasperation. He hadn't even gotten a chance to read the message on the postcard.  
  
"Hey, is it me or is the picture moving?" Honda said suddenly.  
  
Yuugi had enough time to blink before the Pharaoh shoved into him and out of his body, taking his place with a near audible _clack_. He heard his voice shout, "Don't touch it!" and felt the Pharaoh make a desperate grab for the postcard before the whole kitchen flared to blinding white.  
  
.  
  
 _About the Same Time Frame_  
  
 _Domino City, fast-forward 15 years_  
  
.  
  
"Now I use De-Polymerization!" Juudai declared, sweeping his hand in a dramatic arc as the spell card sprang into life in the field between them. "Let's go, Avian and Burstinatrix! I attack your life points di- di- di- CHOO!"  
  
Burstinatrix glanced at Juudai over her shoulder, something quite like worry lurking behind her fierce expression. Avian merely extended his wings, and the fierce gales that had been assaulting them relented - just a little.  
  
If Juudai's opponent noticed, she did not comment on it. She was kept busy with her own chattering teeth and knocking knees, and not because he was about to drop her life points to zero. Her tiny arms were wrapped around her equally tiny body, and Yubel took one look at the girl's miserable form before declaring, 'We can't stay here.'  
  
"Y-Yeah. Good point," Juudai forced out, wiping his nose with a handkerchief he had spirited away from a convenience store just a few minutes ago. The cause for this duel, in fact, but he swore he paid for it! "Hey! Uh, Kimino! Is it okay if we at least move it indoors?"  
  
"Indoors?!" Kimino the sixteen-year-old girl shrieked back at him. "Indoors where?! You s-s-saw my d-d-dad's tiny sh-shop! I forfeit! Screw you!"  
  
She stormed away as the holograms disappeared, Juudai's heroes fading into see-through spirits. "Hey, wait!" Juudai called after her guiltily, but another sneeze prevented him from acting on it. Yubel's hands landed on his shoulders, and he felt himself being firmly steered in a random direction.  
  
It turned out to not be random at all, because a minute later he was standing in front of a coffee shop. A waitress smiled at him through the glass door and opened it for him, though she wrinkled her nose at at the snot still on his face. She handed him a few napkins, taking no effort to be conspicuous, and asked, "Table for one?"  
  
"Er." Juudai glanced around the shop. It was a small and mostly empty space, which was surprising because it was rather cozy. He nodded quickly and pointed at the booths to one side. "Window table, please?"  
  
The waitress smiled like she was glad he would be as far from the bar as possible and inclined her head. "Of course."  
  
She walked a nearly impolite distance from him, but led him to the designated seat all the same and set the menu on the table with a sharp flick of her hand. Asked for his drink - "Water's fine. Well, warm lemonade if you have any?" - and then walked off like she was in a hurry, nearly towing the door to the kitchen open. Yubel half-glared after her, but Juudai did not notice. He wiped his nose, sniffed loudly, then sniffed loudly again when the duffle bag he had set down in the seat next to him began to purr.  
  
"Shhhhh!" Juudai hissed, casting a panicked glance at the coffee shop. Upon making sure the man behind the counter hadn't looked up from his phone yet, he loosened the bag enough to let Pharaoh poke his head through and bare his teeth in a silent snarl of displeasure. "Shhhhh," Juudai repeated, a little pleadingly this time. "If they hear you they'll throw us out."  
  
'No, they won't,' said Yubel. She had taken a seat on the chair's back, knees and arms crossed. 'This is a shop that allows pets. It says so on the door. But they will be keeping a closer eye on you if they see you, and we don't have money.'  
  
Juudai cringed at that because it was true. The last few yen had been spent on cat treats for Pharaoh and buying a handkerchief, which he had then been accused of stealing, and now they had exactly enough change to throw into a temple box at New Year.  
  
If Juudai had believed in miracles of this kind, he might be inclined to get out there and do just that. The nearest temple was about five minutes' walk away, if he was willing to brave the bitter winds. But he did not, and he was not dressed for this kind of weather - high-collar black shirt, a jacket more for style than for practical use because Las Vegas at night had still been unforgiving - and he did not want to get up right now. Who knew Domino City would suddenly be hit by a case of the freak weather? It wasn't raining, but the sky outside was threateningly dark to make it look like sundown instead of high noon, and fierce winds roared through the streets, rattling the window glass.  
  
"I don't want to steal," Juudai whispered with a sigh, scratching Pharaoh behind the ear to pacify him. He glanced at the menu on the table, and after a moment failed to resist opening it. Just to check the price for the lemonade, he told himself, then paled when he saw it. Way expensive. "And I don't want to go into the negatives for finances!"  
  
'Nonexistent as our finances are, I'm sure it won't be a problem,' Yubel replied calmly and looked up when the waitress returned. She watched the woman set the glass of lemonade down in front of Juudai, and her eyes glowed ever so slightly when she watched her walk away. Juudai frowned, but kept his mouth shut until she had disappeared into the kitchen to whisper, "I told you I don't want to steal!"  
  
Yubel looked at him, giving the sensation of an arched eyebrow. 'It's a glass of lemonade. I'm sure they can compensate for the loss,' she replied. Then her eyes and demeanor softened. 'We need you to be well. Whatever the dreams told us is going to be in that building, I doubt it can be taken lightly.'  
  
Yeah. The dreams.  
  
Juudai slid down in his chair and let out a long breath. Recently strange not-visions had been plaguing his sleep, shadows that trickled into his dream and formed into indistinct shapes that he should have been able to make out with Yubel's power but somehow could not. Always they were vague, and always there was a sense of foreboding that came with them. The clearest of the images had been of a place in Domino City that had once been a game shop, and he was sure something was waiting there - impatiently, if the way the shadows had pulled him towards its direction whenever he stepped into them for his mode of fast travel was any indication.  
  
What it was exactly, Juudai lacked the ability to tell. That was probably the most unnerving thing about this whole shady business; he had gotten used to Yubel's sight allowing him to get a clear look of the road ahead. Now that he was deprived of it...Well.  
  
But as he was Yuki Juudai, he had figured that the best and only way to deal with such an event was to face it head-on.  
  
Pharaoh yawned, letting a tiny golden orb of light escape that flew under the table and formed into Juudai's dead teacher on the other side. Daitokuji-sensei leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his knitted fingers. 'Not only that, but you will have to be careful,' he said. 'This might well be a trap.'  
  
'And if it is, then we are in far more trouble than we first thought,' Yubel added, voice grim. 'There are not many who can trick us.'  
  
"I know," Juudai said, ignoring the odd look the man behind the counter gave him for apparently talking to thin air. Pharaoh meowed again, and he scratched him behind the ear to quiet him for just a little longer, absently. "But I'm not going in alone," he reminded present company after a moment, voice low but determined. "All of you are with me. Neo and the others, too."  
  
Daitokuji-sensei smiled, an expression reflected eventually by Yubel. 'True,' he conceded. 'All the same, we should all be prepared to run if something becomes...too odd.'  
  
'Provided we need to,' Yubel added. Her hand gripped Juudai's shoulder, its firmness comforting. 'I will protect you.'  
  
Juudai leaned into her touch, smiling. "Thanks."  
  
They held like that for a moment before the click-clack of the waitress's heels caused Juudai to sit up straight again. It was the same woman as before, and this time there was a mildly puzzled expression on her face. In her hands she held something that looked like a postcard.  
  
"Are you, um..." She checked the item, frowning deeper. "...Yuki Juudai?"  
  
Juudai exchanged a lightning-quick glance with Yubel and Daitokuji-sensei, who silently vanished back into his light-form and slunk away, back to the now-sleepy Pharaoh. While the spirit stood, Juudai looked at the postcard. "Yeah, I am. Is that for me?" No use hiding it.  
  
"Yeah- I mean. Yes sir." She held it out for him. "A gentleman, um, left this here for you a few hours ago."  
  
Alarm bells were going off everywhere. Yubel shifted forward threateningly, her claws bared on the unsuspecting waitress. Wait! Juudai said hastily, though he was not touching the postcard either. I don't think she's in on it.  
  
The young woman shivered while Yubel considered, rubbing her arms and turning away after a quick bow. She fled and the spirit let her, though the next target of her glaring eyes was the mysterious postage. 'Who would know that we will be here? I picked this place out of random,' she hissed, almost to herself.  
  
Juudai slowly leaned forward, craning his neck cautiously to look at the thing. It had been left so the picture was face-up, and depicted what...looked strangely like a plain of flat rocks at night. Nothing exciting at all, except...  
  
His vision switched just in time to see the outline of the postcard light up, and Yubel's hand clapped around his arm at the same moment cat's claws sank into his other hand just as the scenery suddenly flared and swallowed them whole.  
  
.  
  
 _And again, same time..._  
  
 _Neo Domino City_  
  
.  
  
"Yuuuuuusei!"  
  
Blue eyes barely lifted from a screen filled with the mythical language of computers to see Crow Hogan duck into sight before returning to their task. Yuusei's hands barely paused on the keyboard. "Good evening," he greeted, and after a moment added, "I have takeouts in the fridge."  
  
"Awh, gimme a little credit! I'm not here to eat your food!" Crow scoffed even as he made a beeline towards Yuusei's custom-made coffee machine sitting in the corner. He helped himself to a brimming mug, sighing as he sipped at the nectar of the gods. Yuusei had a way with machines, but what he did to this hunk of metal was pure _magic_ , its products tasted so good. "It's so damn cold outside I thought my engines would fall off before I got here. Did you see the news forecast?"  
  
Yuusei made a noncommittal noise. He did not get annoyed often when people interrupted his work precisely because it was in truth almost impossible to break his concentration when he was set on something, like now. Crow made a flat face at him that Yuusei missed, and after a moment sighed.  
  
"So anyway. I have mail delivery for you," he said, and because they were buddies took the effort to walk aaaall the way over to Yuusei's desk, where he put the postcard down next to him. "You're welcomed. I don't know who sent it, though. Maybe Rua and Ruka? Who else's out of town?"  
  
Yuusei finally looked up from the programming and at the postcard Crow had put down next to him. He picked it up and looked at the picture briefly - some bland scenery it sure was, just a forest with some trees at night and what looked like a volcano in the background - before flipping it over. Like Crow had said, there was no return address, though his apartment's was printed in neat letters.  
  
"It's not the twins," Yuusei said after a moment, not missing the fact that Crow was not exactly in a hurry to leave.   
  
"Oh yeah?" Spoken after another gulp of the holy coffee. "How'd you know? Or are you playing Big Brother this week?"  
  
"He knows because I told him they went home," a voice said from inside the apartment.  
  
If Yuusei was any other person, he would have cackled at the sight of Crow doing a perfect spit-take of his coffee. He blubbered incoherently for a few seconds, goggling at the sight of Aki in casual clothes, barefoot, walking out of what he was sure was Yuusei's bedroom. She glowered at him and he got his voice back.  
  
"Oh my GOD I am so sorry," he stuttered, suddenly very eager to make for the door. "If I'm, uh, interrupting something - I'll just leave n- OOF!"  
  
"We weren't DOING anything!" Aki shouted at him, a little too loudly perhaps, already looking around for another pillow to throw. She got her hand on Yuusei's half-fixed ancient stereo set, as the owner himself was too busy imitating a ripe tomato to stop her. "And YOU better get those dirty thoughts out of your head, or I'll start gossiping about you and that girl-"  
  
"Ooh don't you dare!" Crow exclaimed indignantly. His coffee had somehow managed to not spill everywhere with that last pillow attack, and he quickly gulped it down before pointing a finger. "And for the record, I didn't suggest anything! Nothing like that, anyway! It's you who overreacted!"  
  
Aki paused, jaw working furiously, face red, and in the brief and extremely uncomfortable silence that followed Yuusei cleared his throat. He picked up the postcard again since it was the closest thing, and told Crow while he was making a case study of it with his eyes, "Aki came here because her house is having guests."  
  
"Yes. I need a quiet place to study," the red-haired woman said with a huff. She ran a hand through her hair, lips pursed. "Or just an excuse to not commit homicide."  
  
Crow's eye-squint had more than a hint of skepticism about it, but if there was one gal he would not mess with even if you paid him, it was Aki. And he did not hate Yuusei that much, so he said, "Well, I sympathize with you. Really I do. Never got old folks myself but I can imagine the stress. Anyway, I'm going, gonna leave this to you two, uh."  
  
The back of Yuusei's neck was a rosy color and his shoulders looked tense enough to tear a muscle. The air near Aki seemed to be vibrating. Oh man, yeap, time to go. "...good friends," Crow finished his thought and ducked out of the apartment with one last hasty salute.  
  
Long after the door shut, the awkward silence remained. Aki eventually broke it with a loud sigh and came to stand next to Yuusei, who was making an effort to go back to his programming. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and after a moment felt him relax. It made her smile. "Someone sent you something?" she asked, a little teasing.  
  
It spoke clearly of her importance that Yuusei turned immediately to smile at her. His usual slight upward curve of the lips, but it was better than most would get from him. "I don't know who," Yuusei admitted, handing the postcard to Aki. "None of our friends are on vacation, are they?"  
  
"I don't recognize the handwriting," Aki said after a moment. She flipped the card over to see the picture. Neither of them commented on the fact that her hand was still on Yuusei's shoulder. "...Or the place. But I don't think we have a volcano anywhere near Neo Domino. Not with a forest nearby, anyhow."  
  
"That's what I thought," Yuusei admitted. He accepted the postcard back from her and looked at it for a moment longer, pondering. Then he set it aside. "Coffee?"  
  
"Sure." Aki smiled.  
  
Yuusei had barely gotten up from his chair, her hand still on his shoulder, when the postcard exploded with light.  
  
.  
  
 _Present Time, Where Shit Is Going Down_    
  
.  
  
 _Uh, Pharaoh?_ Yuugi tried hard not to sound - er, think - too panicked. He liked to think that he succeeded.  
  
The immediate response was also greatly reassuring. 'Switch with me again. I do not know why-' the Pharaoh did not finish the thought, as they shifted places with each other, and in the next second he had a physical body and could face the monster. It looked every bit as terrible as when Yuugi had seen it, and the thought that he now had mortal flesh for it to carve its claws into was one he could bear to not think about. He glanced at the young man next to him - where this character had popped up, Yami had no idea, but he had done it about the same time as that thing started chasing them...some indeterminate time ago, and with a cat clutched under one arm.  
  
It did not matter right now. They needed to live through this first.   
  
"Get away from the edge," the Pharaoh ordered, brow glowing with the Millennium Eye. He had limited tricks to try, but try he must, and ignored the young man's eyes widening. The creature's screeching, as well as its shuffling footsteps, demanded his attention. "This might get messy. _Beast of the darkness, I command you!_ " He stretched out his hands, willing power into his voice, into the air around him, " _Begone!_ "  
  
Darkness thickened around them like a cloak - no, a curtain to a realm beyond - and the monster moaned, wailed as its essence melted, was vacuumed away through that curtain. The Pharaoh's hands trembled with strain; the effect passed through his whole body in a shudder, like he was wires pulled too taut.  
  
 _You can't hold this for long,_ Yuugi said, voice frightened. He was not asking a question.  
  
'I know, Yuugi.' "RUN! NOW! WHILE IT IS NOT SOLID!" he shouted at the brown-haired boy.   
  
This seemed to start him out of whatever shock he had fallen into. "No way I'm leaving you behind!" he retorted and dropped the cat so he could reach for the device strapped to his left forearm. "Yubel! Help- Huh?"  
  
The Pharaoh saw him fumble with it out of the corner of his eye. What the thing actually was, he had no idea, but it looked like some flashy version of a...wrist-tablet. What he _was_ aware of was that the stranger was likely looking for a duel disk, and the astonishment mixed with fear on his face when he could not find it made the Pharaoh suddenly doubtful.  
  
"Damn!" the stranger cursed, but turned and swept his hand at the darkness anyway. "Yubel! Just take what you need from me to make yourself solid!"  
  
There was a silence. The strain was worse now; the spirit of the Puzzle could feel the shapeless beast fighting against his will, and when he shouted the banishing order again it did not heed him at all. It bucked and thrashed, pull itself back together, and now the outline of claws were not so indistinct.   
  
Yuugi's presence pressed against his, invisible hands on his shoulders to steady him. A little behind them, the stranger screamed, "Just _do it_!"  
  
Something swooped over their heads, and a moment later it took form. A demonic creature the Pharaoh had never seen before, but was distinctively a duel monster, spread its leathery wings and let out a defiant, deafening shriek. The sound drove the shadow-beast back one step, and in that moment the monster turned to him and blitzed.  
  
He had the sensation of a muscular arm wrapping around his waist and the feeling of air getting sucked out of his lungs before they were airborne, flying away from the volcano and the creature that had been so determined to eat them. Its dying-woman screams chased them into the sky, rattling in the Pharaoh's ears until they had left it far behind and there was nothing but forest stretched out beneath them.


	2. Separated

He breathed in dust, he was sure, though strangely enough he did not cough. Rather the substance seemed to settle in the lungs, clogging them up without offering a chance for release. The air smelled of old musty leather and something undefinable that made him uneasy, and it was so, so dark.

Hesitantly, Yuusei reached out a hand-

-and was shaken awake by a piercing pain in his head.

He startled into consciousness with a loud gasp, his spasm causing him to nearly knock into someone else. A woman yelped - a girl, maybe - and someone else swore. Hands grabbed his shoulder before his fist could swing out and an unfamiliar voice exclaimed, "Whoa, dude! Chill! We're not here to hurt you!"

"Who are you?" Yuusei gritted out. His head was still throbbing and it was still dark, though he could see the starlight above his head and the silhouettes of who he assumed to be the ones who had woken him. With some effort, he sat upright, breathing through the spikes of hot agony in his skull.

"-chi," he heard, and realized the young man had spoken. He had barely heard him at all. "That's Anzu."

"Are you okay?" the girl asked worriedly and there was a hand on his shoulder. She had to be Anzu. "We found you just sprawled out on the ground - well, Jounoichi tripped over you. I hope you're not hurt?"

I'm hurting, Yuusei thought grimly, though the pain seemed to subside with that very thought. Soon the throbbing receded to a much more tolerable level and he looked up at them, or as much as he could. No use. The only thing he could tell for sure was that Anzu wore some kind of light-colored top, and Jounoichi too.

"I'm..." Yuusei hesitated, though he did not know why. "...fine. I- Aki!"

Memories rushed back to him like a punch in the gut and Yuusei's heart lurched to his throat. He scrambled to his feet, or tried to, before his mind messed up which was the ground and which was the sky and he stumbled. Arms caught him, lowering him to the ground again.

Yuusei did not struggle against them, but he forced out, "Have you seen another girl nearby? She's with me."

"'fraid not, but looks like we're in the same boat," Jounouchi said, patting Yuusei's back. "We came here - well, I guess we at least thought we came here - with two other guys and I've got no idea where they both went."

"We were hoping you'd know," Anzu added, regretfully. She stood, her clothes rustling. "Um. Do we at least know where we are?"

"Don't ask me," Jounouchi said. He stood too, and Yuusei felt more than saw a hand being waved at his face. "Need a hand up?"

"Thanks." He took it, and was pulled to his feet. The grip was strong, confident, and Yuusei noted it to himself that this boy probably knew how to throw a punch. This time the headache was gone, at least, and it was easier to keep his footings once he had gotten them.

Aki, Yuusei thought, then shook his head. First, light. He patted himself down while Anzu and Jounouchi argued, quietly enough that Yuusei figured they didn't want him to overhear anyway. He heard a few snatches of their conversation - names, mostly, Yuugi and Honda, and a love letter that was not - and filed them away for later consideration. Right then he had something to find...

Aha.

Yuusei flicked the tiny portable flashlight from one of his jacket's inner pockets - his apartment's lousy AC unit had made him leave it and all of its small trinkets on, thankfully - and turned the knob at the end, blasting the area in front of them with a faint light.

It was barely enough to see the ground, but overall it was not so bad, and Jounouchi said, "Nice."

Yuusei shone the light at them quickly, then straight at the sky so they could see each other's faces. So Jounouchi was blond, he noted, and perhaps an inch taller than he was, while Anzu looked for all intentions and purposes like an ordinary schoolgirl. Their uniforms, he did not recognize at all, and the way they looked at him he might as well be someone from a different planet. That was...perhaps not unexpected. After everything, after saving the city twice, some days people still looked at Yuusei like he was an alien.

"Whoa," Jounouchi said after a moment. "You look pretty cool. Nice tattoo." And pointed at his own cheek.

Yuusei's eyebrow twitched slightly, poised to descend in a frown but not quite. He was not particularly sensitive about it, and Jounouchi did not sound at all mocking or ironic. After a moment Yuusei settled with, "Thanks."

"Guys, maybe we should get moving," Anzu suggested, her eyes on the sky behind Yuusei.

He turned, wary of what it might be, and saw the volcano. It loomed like a nightmare above them, a shadowy mass save for its mouth where the glow of molten lava could be seen. As they watched, it erupted -- only a tiny explosion, for now, but it sent a tremor through their feet.

The sight of it triggered a faint memory at the back of his mind, though Yuusei could not tell for sure what. He stowed it away after a moment and shone his light at the forest. "We need to go," he agreed.

"Yeah. As far away from that thing as possible. C'mon." Jounouchi was already breaking into a light jog, followed by Anzu and finally him. After a few feet Yuusei pushed ahead of them, turning the flashlight to their surroundings. Forest, as far as he could see, thick with large trees that towered above them. There was something eerie about this place that he couldn't place a finger on and he thought, stomach twisting with concern, _Aki_.

.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry," Aki muttered reflexively, though her head was hurting something fierce. She squeezed her eyes shut, did her best to breathe through the pain, and was grateful to find out that it faded after a moment. Taking another deep breath, she turned to the one she had walked into, whoever - whatever - he was.

It was so dark she could not see. He had not answered her apology, or he had not heard her, busy grumbling to himself a very short distance away. Aki thought she could see movement in the dark.

"Are you okay?" she repeated, pressing her lips together in genuine concern even as her mind tried to sort out what happened and where they were. She was still wearing the slippers she did in Yuusei's apartment -- who was not with her. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you."

"No problem," the stranger said. "I can't see you either. Or my fingers, for that matter."

"Do you have a lighter of some kind?" Winds blew through the...clearing they were in, and Aki shivered, rubbing her arms. She was still in the thin white blouse that was part of her school uniform, and it was decidedly _not_ helping. Her feet felt cold on the damp earth beneath them, another reminder that she was without proper shoes and thoroughly unsuited for whatever this place was. What was this place, anyway?

A light burst into existence next to her, tiny, but enough to chase some of the darkness away. Aki turned to see the face of a young man with a mullet and a satisfied (maybe a little relieved) little grin on his face. It widened when he saw her. "Whoa! You're pretty!" he exclaimed, then turned scarlet in the next instant. "I- I mean...I get that this's not the time for that, sorry-"

"Thank you," Aki interrupted with a small smile of her own, warming just a little. Inappropriate timing or not, it was always nice to be complimented -- and after the lives she had led.

She looked away, to the starry sky and then the forest around them -- because that was what it was; a forest -- and then looked at her arm. Strange, she didn't remember attaching her duel disk there...

And gasped in surprise, because the thing attached to it was not a duel disk.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The guy was moving closer to her, concerned. He saw her trying to take the thing off and waved for her to stop. "Hey, hey! Slow down. Let me help-"

"I can do this on my own," Aki snapped. When he jerked back, startled, she sighed harshly and held up her arm. "Look, I'm -- sorry. That I snapped at you. But move closer so I can see."

Sheepishly, he did as she asked, and Aki finally found what looked like a latch. She pulled it, releasing the device, and with a quiet whirring sound the band of steel around her wrist retracted into the...device...and it came off.

Aki slid it into her hands, examining it critically. She'd never really had any love or significant understanding of machines and devices like these, but you didn't hang around Yuusei for this long and remain techno-dumb. Unless you were Crow and Jack, she supposed.

The thing was...odd, to say the least. At first glance it looked like a small rectangular tablet attached to an outer casing of silver, on each sides of which there were openings where the "bracelet" had retracted into. The tablet itself was divided into five sections, each empty.

Aki ran her hand on its surface and thought absently, _They are for names._

Then she paused. Why had she thought that? Where did it even come from?

"Uh, hey?"

Aki looked up -- and instantly tensed. In the forest, dots of light had begun to light up, staring out at them. A giant foot slammed into the ground, and a low, chilling snarl split the air.

"Wow, uh," said her company in misery. He glanced briefly at her, at the forest beyond her. Aki glanced over her shoulder and saw that it at least looked empty. She reached for her deck's holster, touched only air, and paled.

"Yeah! Run!"

.

This was the fastest he had ever flown before, and Yami -- wearing Yuugi's body -- wasn't sure he liked it.

But the creature carrying him did not care for such petty things as its (her?) passengers' comfort, it seemed, nor could he tell her about it. The forest rushed below him like a sea of dark shapes, and it was all he could do to clutch at her stream of hair, hanging on for dear life. Her wings had not even flapped; by what means she was achieving this speed, it was not natural.

Then again, neither was she, and just as he thought so she made a forty-five degree angle with the ground and dived. Speed dropped with the descent, surprisingly steady, and by the time the monster landed on solid ground Yami did not feel like he had left more than a fifth of his stomach behind.

She let him go with a small shove, let him stumble without a care, and turned her attention to the rest of her passengers. The fat cat -- she had brought it along -- was dumped unceremoniously to one side, its offended yowling ignored in favor of the still figure leaning his head heavily against her shoulder. She cradled him to her chest and Yami heard them speak, but it was too low for him to make out.

He turned to take stock of their surroundings instead.

Where they had landed was the front steps of a temple, or at least some small shrine. The make was...ancient, but not recognizable, and a set of stone stairs led up to its open doors. Something gleamed inside.

Yami frowned at it, then turned the other way. More trees there, at a lower elevation. They were on some sort of hill. He cautiously made his way to his two saviors, taking care to move slowly and loudly enough for them to hear him coming.

The monster certainly did; her head snapped up, differently-colored eyes narrowing for a split second before relaxing. Her wings flared, then folded, and her shoulders loosened in what Yami might call defeat if the look in her eyes and the way she clutched at the other boy were not so fierce.

He came to kneel next to her and looked at that boy, genuine concern stirring. "Is he alright?"

"No," said the monster, and her voice was curt but distinctively a woman's. She bared her teeth. "He was a fool."

"He saved my life, along with you," Yami answered, and it was not to contradict her words. "I will do whatever I can to ensure that he will be. What is the matter?"

It was all too dark to see the boy's affliction clearly, but Yami could easily hear his harsh breathing. It wasn't the pattern of one in pain, at least, but of someone who was merely out of air. The monster muttered words under her breath he did not understand before saying aloud, "He is exhausted. I have taken much from him to become solid. And I am still taking more. I need to disappear."

She looked at him, bright eyes luminescent in the dark. "Will you take care of him?"

"Of course."

She let her charge go, reluctantly, and laid him with great care on the ground before...dissolving. Yami blinked at the new shroud of light that surrounded her -- see-through -- form, and understood immediately. He looked at the one she had been trying to protect with new eyes. A remarkable character indeed, if he could speak to spirits.

"Can you hear me?" the monster asked, hesitant. Yami glanced at her and inclined his head, smiling in reassurance.

"Indeed. What is your name? I am Yuugi." That was -- both of their names, for now. 'Yours too, as much as mine,' Yuugi reminded him, and he closed his eyes. Yes, it was true.

"I know who you are," she answered, and the pause that followed had him look at her again. She was staring at him in turn, eyes sharp. "Do you not remember us?"

"Remember you?" Yami repeated, frowning. He wracked his memory -- the recent years' at least -- and came up blank. "Have we met? Where was that? When?"

"Years...ago," a new voice wheezed. They both leaned forward, staring wide-eyed at the third member of their conversation, who had woken and was currently trying to push himself into a sitting position. His companion pushed his shoulder down, and in the glow of her spirit form his face was a sheen of sweat and too pale, but he sat up anyway. Grinned, though it was more like a grimace. "In...Domino City. You kicked...my ass. We had fun, though. Ugh." And flopped back over, panting hard.

Yami reached for his shoulder, brow knitted in worry, and glanced at the woman's anxious face. He looked next at the shrine. It was roofed, and as though to reassure him that his idea was the right one, wind began to rush across the world. It sent the trees into a low, dull roar, and it made him shiver with the cold. They needed shelter, now.

"Try to stand," Yami said, grabbing the stranger's (who claimed he was not? But then, where had they met before?) arm and hauling him up, letting him lean against his side. His other arm went around his waist. "We have a short distance to walk and then you can rest."

"Nice...hey, where's Pharaoh?"

Yami froze. He glanced at him -- could feel Yuugi's surprise at the back of his mind, too -- before the woman interrupted, "That is the name of the cat."

"I see." He deflated with relief...and then thought about it. "An interesting name."

Yuugi giggled. _Stop that,_ Yami told him, though not exactly scolding. He glanced across the area, looking for the cat in question even as he dragged his new friend towards the shrine, and discovered after a few steps that the thing was already in there. Or at least, something meowed very loudly at them. Yami's lips quirked. "Smart cat."

"Uh-huh...you won't say...that after you...have him for a week," the boy wheezed. He knocked his feet against just about every step on the way up, his breathing rate still bad enough to make doctors worry about an asthma attack, and collapsed unceremoniously when they finally made it into the shrine.

It was not terribly good shelter as it was barely more than a niche-sized place with no door to speak of and just enough room for Yami to press himself against one side, stretch his legs, and remained one inch short of the opposite wall. And since this was Yuugi's legs they were talking about...that meant something.

But it kept out most of the wind and right now that was probably as good as they would -- or could -- get. Yami moved as far inside as possible, hoping the maybe-storm outside would not change direction and blow into their shelter, and in doing so knocked his knee against the boy's.

Who was already fast asleep.

The cat they had heard about had come and curled his fat body against their new friend's, snuggling in to hopefully provide warmth as well as benefit from it, and with a quiet sigh Yami looked away from them to the world outside. When he looked back, the monster woman was there again, crouching protectively over her friend. She saw him staring and said, "I am Yubel. This is Juudai."

He nodded, but he could not remember those names. Juudai had said Domino City..."When did we meet?" After Battle City, there had been so little time. Few duelists came to challenge Yuugi, and even those who did Yami had remembered them all. To think he would not recall someone who could see spirits...

'We haven't met them,' Yuugi said, kneeling next to Yami. 'I don't remember them either. I don't know them.'

Yubel smiled directly at him. "No, indeed," she said. "It seems the timelines are...different. In another instance, somewhen else, you dueled Juudai. It was great fun for us both." She glanced at him again and reached for his face, brushing a strand of hair away and tucking it behind one ear. "It does not matter. What matters is, where are we? What is this?" She stood, looking around them, then towards the very back. For all her height, the ceiling was a good foot above her head. Narrowed, but tall, the shrine was, and Yami stood with her, squinting into the dark.

"I don't know," he admitted, trying to remember. Something had...brought him here. Something like... "A postcard? I was..." He had sensed something wrong with it, he had said they shouldn't touch it -- the others! Yami hissed, causing Yubel to look at him. "My friends! They should be here as well. Where are they?"

He turned to the door as though intending to fight them right at that moment and might have been tempted to, except a girl's voice said, "You shouldn't go out there."

Yami turned, wary -- and found himself looking into the face of Dark Magician Girl.


End file.
